Monday, May 23, 2011

Ruins of 13th-century castle discovered in northern England

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of Westgate Castle in the northern English area of Weardale in the North Pennies region. The lost castle once was part of the Bishop of Durham’s great deer park of Stanhope.

From the 13th century through until the early 17th, Westgate Castle served as the ‘west gate’ into the Bishop of Durham’s great deer park, and functioned as an administrative headquarters for the Bishop’s extensive estate encompassing the old Forest of Weardale. By the mid 17th century it lay in ruins and its masonry was quarried for new buildings.